Ambrose Bierce is still controversial. After reissuing his The
Devil's Dictionary late last year, the UK publishers Bloomsbury were
inundated with requests for Bierce interviews, while one bookshop chain
complained bitterly about the lack of signed copies.... (The Bookseller)

R.I.P.Mary Margaret Kaye (1908-2004), Indian-born UK author
best known for The Far Pavilions (1978), died on 29 January aged 95; she
wrote one fantasy for children, The Ordinary Princess (1980).

Oscars:
The Short Version.The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is
nominated in eleven categories including Best Picture. Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl has five nominations and Finding
Nemo four. And for the innumerable Patrick O'Brian fans among us, Master
and Commander: The Far Side of the World has ten.

Thog's Masterclass.Newtonian Dept. 'It is impossible to
shrug one's shoulders in free fall; the motion sends you flying across the
cabin, and Brian was too well-trained to make waste motions of that sort.'
(Marion Zimmer Bradley, 'The Climbing Wave', F&SF February 1954)